‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Trailer Intensifies Sense of Impending Doom

Twentieth Century Fox released the first trailer for Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a prequel to Tim Burton’s remake from starring James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox, and Tom Felton.

While completely hesitant based solely on studio, my first reaction was actually pretty positive. Other than feeling like WETA just shrunk down their CG King Kong, put a more human face on him, and then multiplied him by a billion, the trailer is slightly chilling. Up until the first ape is on the loose, there’s an extreme sense of impending doom giving the franchise much needed tension.

An origin story in the true sense of the word, ‘Rise’ is set in present day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale — a science fiction/science-fact blend where mankind’s hubris leads to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

Oscar-winning visual effects house WETA Digital – employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for Avatar – will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.